@aefact 🌾

@aefact 🌾

@aefact.bsky.social

ttrpgs / ip lawyer / patent and tm agent / raised by celery wholebeach.com ALT. Profile pic: Crash test dummy wearing an Icarus patch. Banner: A rug woven in pink, blue, yellow, brown, and green colors. ⚲ nonlocal, remote, variable

91 followers249 following563 posts

@aefact 🌾
@aefact.bsky.social

Tho' it might take me a minute to internalize... :D -- 'TWOF' (Tempo, Weight, Openness, Flair) 4/'N' (Null) 5/'H' (Hazardous) and 6/'S' (Super)

@aefact 🌾
@aefact.bsky.social

#DarkSun Confirmed: 1 year ago today… When Wizards declared a bona fide intention to use its DARK SUN mark in US trade. 1 year later and, to get it registered, they just need to file specimens and a Statement of Use in US commerce… by 2 June 2027.* Link to TM app: tsdr.uspto.gov#caseNumber=9...

tsdr.uspto.govtsdr.uspto.gov
@aefact 🌾@aefact.bsky.social

To file the US trademark application, Wizards declared a *bona fide* (good faith) intention to use the DARK SUN trademark, in US commerce, in association with the listed goods and services: - Downloadable games - Roleplaying games - Online games 2/4

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@aefact 🌾
@aefact.bsky.social

And, while I expect Wizards should be using DARK SUN™ by next June, at least in association with roleplaying games… For the _downloadable and online games_ that Wizards also listed in its US trademark application, I guess we'll see… :) Stay tuned!

@aefact 🌾
@aefact.bsky.social

^ Naturally… Although I work as an IP lawyer and the US Patent & Trademark Office has recognized me to represent _Canadian_ applicants for US trademark registrations… None of the foregoing is legal advice :)

@aefact 🌾
@aefact.bsky.social

#DarkSun Confirmed: 1 year ago today… When Wizards declared a bona fide intention to use its DARK SUN mark in US trade. 1 year later and, to get it registered, they just need to file specimens and a Statement of Use in US commerce… by 2 June 2027.* Link to TM app: tsdr.uspto.gov#caseNumber=9...

tsdr.uspto.govtsdr.uspto.gov
@aefact 🌾@aefact.bsky.social

To file the US trademark application, Wizards declared a *bona fide* (good faith) intention to use the DARK SUN trademark, in US commerce, in association with the listed goods and services: - Downloadable games - Roleplaying games - Online games 2/4

@aefact 🌾
@aefact.bsky.social

* That date is subject to 5 additionally available 6-month extensions of time, if / as needed… Now I don't know if Hasbro and Wizards / #wotcstaff may yet wish to request a further extension of time or file a divisional TM application…

@aefact 🌾 reposted

@aefact 🌾
@aefact.bsky.social

Replying to @lenorarose.bsky.social

Publication rights typically stem from the copyright. So, it's how the story's expressed, rather than the story as an idea, that limits us here. The test of "substantiality"—whether substantial qualities or a substantial quantity of the original work is reproduced / similar—typically guides us.*

@aefact 🌾 reposted

@aefact 🌾
@aefact.bsky.social

Replying to @wiswell.bsky.social

If I change my short story, can I offer exclusive first publication rights for my changed story? How much must be changed? What lies / lay between fraud and good faith… Negligence, recklessness, innocent misrepresentation… ? (Rhetorical questions to ponder… Can be worth consideration.) ✌️🫠

@aefact 🌾 reposted

@aefact 🌾
@aefact.bsky.social

Replying to @edoffannyside.bsky.social

Some inventions aim to remediate some of our more tapped-out lands worldwide, including for clayey soils and in desert based biomes… + Naturally certain plants are also well-adapted, and could be more widely sown, for related uses. & More arable land likely makes for better soil security ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

@aefact 🌾 reposted

@aefact 🌾
@aefact.bsky.social

¹ You know, the "Solomon justice" half-baby story... A baby and two mothers, fighting over whose baby it is, go before King Solomon for his ruling: that the baby be cut in two, with a half to each; on wisdom that the baby's true mother couldn't bear to see it done... Yes, that one.

@aefact 🌾@aefact.bsky.social

-- dystopia, full steam ahead (a thread) -- The "Solomon justice" half-baby story long stood as an allegory for how we might resolve disputes over other people's creations and the fruits of their labors.

@aefact 🌾
@aefact.bsky.social

I mean, is there really any doubt that a supermajority shows interest in this initiative? I mean, isn't getting out ahead of this thing a great PR move / way to "rebuild trust" (and build even more consumer goodwill…) I mean, isn't it what's best for everyone? -- ¿ #wotcstaff

United Wizards of the Coast - CWA@uwotc-official.bsky.social

Curious how you can help? We ask that you sign our petition for Wizards to voluntarily recognize our union, share it with your communities, and keep an eye on this account for future updates! actionnetwork.org/forms/uwotcp...

actionnetwork.orgStand with Dungeons & Dragons and Magic Workers Forming a Union!The Dungeons & Dragons team and Studio X (Magic: The Gathering; Duel Masters) are forming a union! We are joining the ranks of United Wizards of the Coast - CWA (UWOTC-CWA) and following in the fo...

@aefact 🌾 reposted

@aefact 🌾
@aefact.bsky.social

Replying to @aefact.bsky.social

That is, by corrollary, a monkey can do the reviewing arbitrator's job or, at least, the AI can "ape" the human's every arbitatrion and mediation strategy and argument... What work then for humans in "human" decision-making? How much justice can we afford?

@aefact 🌾
@aefact.bsky.social

p.s., I saw "xnoo1" as part of this kickstarter's URL, but was a bit saddened not to see it as an available add-on... Apologies if, somehow, my presently cold-addled 🤧 senses simply missed seeing it there :)

@aefact 🌾
@aefact.bsky.social

“When I use a word,” Humpty Dumpty said in rather a scornful tone, “it means just what I choose it to mean—neither more nor less.” ”The question is,” said Alice, “whether you can make words mean so many different things.” “The question is,” said Humpty Dumpty, “which is to be master—that’s all.”

@aefact 🌾
@aefact.bsky.social

^ Lewis Carroll, Through the Looking-Glass (December 1871) * Aside: In retrospect, I fear, ‹words› and ‹their meanings› may be all too similar to ‹machines› and ‹what we'd have them do… ›

@aefact 🌾
@aefact.bsky.social

-- dystopia, full steam ahead (a thread) -- The "Solomon justice" half-baby story long stood as an allegory for how we might resolve disputes over other people's creations and the fruits of their labors.

View full thread
@aefact 🌾
@aefact.bsky.social

-- ² The fictional "Butlerian Jihad" was first mentioned in 1963 – in the serialized version of what later became Frank Herbert's novel Dune (1965) – one hundred years after a realworld 1863 letter to the editor, entitled "Darwin among the Machines",³ was written by Samuel Butler; its namesake.

@aefact 🌾
@aefact.bsky.social

¹ You know, the "Solomon justice" half-baby story... A baby and two mothers, fighting over whose baby it is, go before King Solomon for his ruling: that the baby be cut in two, with a half to each; on wisdom that the baby's true mother couldn't bear to see it done... Yes, that one.

@aefact 🌾@aefact.bsky.social

-- dystopia, full steam ahead (a thread) -- The "Solomon justice" half-baby story long stood as an allegory for how we might resolve disputes over other people's creations and the fruits of their labors.

@aefact 🌾
@aefact.bsky.social

-- dystopia, full steam ahead (a thread) -- The "Solomon justice" half-baby story long stood as an allegory for how we might resolve disputes over other people's creations and the fruits of their labors.

View full thread
@aefact 🌾
@aefact.bsky.social

Old king Solomon, and other people's babies… human capital and human resources… resource exploitation or stock in trade… stakeholders vs shareholders… The industrial revolution is not done with us yet.

@aefact 🌾
@aefact.bsky.social

-- dystopia, full steam ahead (a thread) -- The "Solomon justice" half-baby story long stood as an allegory for how we might resolve disputes over other people's creations and the fruits of their labors.

View full thread
@aefact 🌾
@aefact.bsky.social

"… Prior to signing off on the Award, the Reviewing Arbitrator will confirm that in the opinion of the Reviewing Arbitrator, a reasonably skilled arbitrator could have reached the decision reached by the aiADR Arbitrator, for the reasons stated in the Award."

@aefact 🌾
@aefact.bsky.social

That is, by corrollary, a monkey can do the reviewing arbitrator's job or, at least, the AI can "ape" the human's every arbitatrion and mediation strategy and argument... What work then for humans in "human" decision-making? How much justice can we afford?

@aefact 🌾
@aefact.bsky.social

-- dystopia, full steam ahead (a thread) -- The "Solomon justice" half-baby story long stood as an allegory for how we might resolve disputes over other people's creations and the fruits of their labors.

View full thread
@aefact 🌾
@aefact.bsky.social

In this light, I present to you a fresh dystopia engine -- an AI alternative dispute resolution (ADR) platform aimed at people, who can't afford lawyers or going to court, and have little other access to justice -- pulled straight from sci-fi and/or a so-called "Book of Kings" : www.aiadr.com

aiadr.comHome Page
@aefact 🌾
@aefact.bsky.social

They're not alone in this space. And, how this trends for future "justice" too seems perhaps bleak… Here, a quote from their AI ADR terms of use:

@aefact 🌾
@aefact.bsky.social

-- dystopia, full steam ahead (a thread) -- The "Solomon justice" half-baby story long stood as an allegory for how we might resolve disputes over other people's creations and the fruits of their labors.

View full thread
@aefact 🌾
@aefact.bsky.social

Now, for a moment, let's leave aside any of AI's more commercially touted uses, supposedly, involving reasonable parties (of equal bargaining power) trying to get something done…

@aefact 🌾
@aefact.bsky.social

Unlike non-contentious matters, disputes are inherently fraught with peril. Not least of all, since there's a prospect that peoples could actually end up physically fighting with each other...

@aefact 🌾
@aefact.bsky.social

-- dystopia, full steam ahead (a thread) -- The "Solomon justice" half-baby story long stood as an allegory for how we might resolve disputes over other people's creations and the fruits of their labors.

@aefact 🌾
@aefact.bsky.social

So, too, the Butlerian Jihad from Frank Herbert's Dune. There, an AI killed a baby it viewed as a distraction to its captive human mother, and to study her psychological limits and grief. The AI's decision-making for (and in place of) humans caused the fictional jihad.

@aefact 🌾
@aefact.bsky.social

“Thay, for all you've changed, so much remains the same…” Some light prep for next week, D&D 5.5e Encounters (Season of Magic) at a FLGS.

@aefact 🌾
@aefact.bsky.social

Historically, "labour-saving" technologies often underlied/belied a move towards employment in other ventures… And, when "saved" labour brings profits and amasses capital in those ventures, we should maybe _pause_ to ask whether stakeholders in that capital include more than just the shareholders… 🤷

Tim Harford@timharford.ft.com

The sewing machine. The washing machine. The dishwasher. Which technologies truly liberate us from drudgery? as.ft.com/r/e3afdfeb-8...

as.ft.comLiberated by technology (again)Does the history of labour-saving inventions teach us anything about a revolution in AI?
@aefact 🌾
@aefact.bsky.social

Patent colleague jokes, re: Quantum computers, the uncertainty principle, and supercool stuff. -- #quantumcomputers #uncertaintyprinciple #supercooling